Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Four Cafe: Eagle Rock's fresh green canteen

Every neighborhood needs a cafe like Eagle Rock's new Four Cafe, with a bright, modern approach to salads, imaginative sandwiches, appealing baked goods and good coffee. Owners Michelle and Corey Wilton clearly saw that need when they transformed a Colorado Blvd. real estate office into Four Cafe, with a pleasantly rustic interior and a menu of healthy dishes prepared with organic produce.

The space was smaller than I had expected, with a small case of salads and desserts up front, a long row of tables and a counter for overflow diners.

The smoky fish in my smoked albacore, grapefruit and avocado salad (left, $7.50), proved a little too bold for the delicate flavors of grapefruit and avocado, and the lemon vinaigrette wasn't assertive enough to tie it all together, but it still made a healthy light lunch. Fellow bloggers Mattatouille and Jessica Ritz came along to help sample; Mattouille liked his pork loin sandwich with blood orange macerated fennel, while Jessica's pancetta /blue cheese/ fig salad was another combination could have used a slightly more acidic dressing to bring out its flavors.

Though we agreed that the blood orange cake and the chocolate cupcake with salted caramel icing were probably more compelling than the salads, I'm still really glad more places like Four Cafe are opening lately, with colorful fresh vegetables, delicious desserts and a commitment to quality ingredients. If I can tear myself away from Cacao Mexicatessen, I'll certainly return for a grilled asparagus sandwich with sheep's milk feta, a piece of spinach and sheep's milk ricotta tart and a brown butter lavender cookie. And breakfast is due to start in June!